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We have developed an open-source medical linac simulation product called SIMAC, which allows users to simulate the physics of beam formation in a medical linac in real time. It replicates the relationship between the various beam production components and provides a platform to manipulate the components and observe the implications of those changes.

We propose to develop and implement an evaluation methodology that will demonstrate the impact of SIMAC on knowledge acquisition of MPs and trainees (level 2 learning outcome) as it relates the basic functionality of a linac and the production of high quality radiation beam. There will be three key activities associated with this phase of the overall project.

SIMAC is freely available to anyone who wants to learn or teach about linac physics. If you have an interest in teaching linac physics, we would like to hear from you. If you want to make the physics within SIMAC better, we could use your help. If you want to teach and use SIMAC as an aid, we want to know how you do it so others can also use SIMAC in the same way

PURPOSE

The overall goal of this project is to close this gap in order to facilitate an acceleration in quality improvements that can be realized through collaboration and innovation. This will be accomplished in several steps including the focus of this proposal – the development of a validated, robust teaching, learning and evaluation product that can be deployed widely and easily for the expedited acquisition of knowledge, skills, and judgment related to linac operation and maintenance. We anticipate that this kind of product could be used in medical physics training and has potential to become an important tool in the development of RT capacity globally as jurisdictions struggle with safe on boarding of new technology.

The idea behind SIMAC (SIMulate LinAC) is to try to address this by allowing the simulation of linac functioning using a simulated environment. The simulated environment has several purposes: It allows access to a software learning environment without needing access to the actual physical device, which is often limited. As well, the simulator allows the user to play around with operating parameters in ways that are not possible on a real machine. Real linacs can be easily damaged if it is setup incorrectly. Lastly, SIMAC allows the users to vary operating parameters over a wide range so that the user can get an intuitive feel for the response of the linac to changes in operating parameters.

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SIMAC BETA IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD.